


Still So Many Dreams

by Stitched In Ice (Stein414)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Dimension Travel, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-10-18
Packaged: 2018-01-13 23:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1244443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stein414/pseuds/Stitched%20In%20Ice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reincarnation happens to be a bitch. Not for the strawhats that is, but for everyone else. Voldemort won't know what hit him. Strawhats reincarnated as Harry Potter characters, then kicking some ass because, why not?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. And is a King Indeed

Monkey D. Luffy, at the ripe old age of forty (which was pretty damn good for a pirate really) had finally passed away. "Passed away" of course meaning that he was publicly executed on the block for being the Pirate King. The whole crew had been captured eventually and they were all being killed in front of an audience at was the first to go.

Now, generally when one dies, one does not expect to open their eyes again– the non-religious folk that is. And we all know that the only god Monkey D. Luffy believes in is the God of Meat. So, Luffy died, expecting to be dead, and was therefore very surprised when he woke up, because most of the time dead people don't do that (MOST of the time). Sitting up, he rubbed the places on his chest where the blades would have exited and looked around, troubled.

"Monkey D. Luffy," A hoarse voice whispered. There in front in him stood a decrepit old man with an equally decrepit and scruffy beard. "You have done many great things in your life." The old guy mumbled, scribbling something down on the notebook in his hands. "A GREAT many things. Without you, the death toll would have been quite a bit higher, in quite a few places."

Luffy blinked and shoved a finger up his nose. Who was the old guy and what was he talking about? Also, where were his nakama? His stomach growled and Luffy puffed out his cheeks. "Hey, old man, you got any meat?"

The Old Man blinked, then shook his head. "No. No, I don't have any meat. But as I was saying–"

"Look old man, I don't really care, alright? I just wanna find my nakama and get some food." Luffy got to his feet slowly and dusted himself off. "Do you know where they are?"

"Know where... your nakama? Well of course I do!" The Old Man  _hmph_ ed and crossed his arms, staring down skeptically at the boy.

"You do? Tell me then!" Luffy grinned, swinging his head around to look for his crew members, as if they would suddenly appear.

"Well, yes, but I need you to listen to me–" The Old Man pursed his lips, staring at Luffy with increasing annoyance.

"Where are they, where are they?!" He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet now, craning his rubbery neck higher to look for them.

"Look– would you just–"

"Tell me, tell me!"

"–I need to talk to you–"

"–Where where where where–"

"SHUT UP!" The Old Man yelled, smacking the 40-yr-old child upside the head. Luffy simmered down abruptly, rubbing his temple with a pout. The Old Man glared back. "Now, if you are sufficiently calm..." The Old Man paused, raising his brows as if daring Luffy to speak. "I have a matter of great importance to discuss with you." Luffy opened his mouth, as if to object, but shut it again when Old Man's glare intensified.

"Now then." The Old Man very seriously looked him dead in the eyes. "Monkey D. Luffy, you are dead."

Luffy paused momentarily, then blinked and scratched his head. "What, really?" He asked calmly.

"Yes really." The Old Man continued, pleased with his quiet reaction. All too often the dead would kick up a fuss in denial of their demise. "Now, you've done a great many things in life and it has earned you–"

"Look Old Man, I heard you before–" Luffy went to interrupt him again, impatient, hungry and bored.

"I'm not finished!" The Old Man snapped, a low growl growing in his chest. With another scorching glare, he cleared his throat and began again, looking at his clipboard. "Yes, so. A great many deeds, a great many lives saved. This has earned you a lot of good karma– so much in fact that the Gods are now indebted to you. Therefore, now that you are dead and you can no longer spend your karma, we must come to an agreement on what to do with it." The Old Man scribbled something on his clipboard, then raised an eyebrow, waiting for Luffy's response.

"... What's karma?" He asked, tilting his head. "Can I eat it? 'cause I'm kinda hungry and if I can just eat it then–"

"No, you cannot eat karma." A vein pulsed on Old Man's forehead and he sighed. "Karma is... Like good luck. But now that you're dead, you can't use your good luck even though there's still a lot left over."

"Why can't you just give it to someone else?" He asked, swinging his arms.

"Because– you can't just give karma away! You have to earn it!" The Old Man was beginning to get a little red in the face, his knuckles turning white as he clutched his pen.

"You kinda look like a tomato old man... I don't think that's very healthy." Luffy laughed and went to poke the other before Old Man slapped his hand away.

"Stop it." He hissed angrily before continuing. "One of the ways that we'll be able to get rid of your remaining karma is to reincarnate you. That way you'll be alive again so you can spend it."

"Wait– like you'll bring me back to life?" His eyes narrowed and Luffy crinkled his nose. "You can do that?"

"Only in extenuating circumstances, understand. We can't just bring anyone back from the dead. And you won't becoming back as you. You'll be born again, as someone else. You will not be Monkey D. Luffy anymore." Luffystopped short at this. Not... be him? Be someone else? Luffy wasn't very attached to his name exactly, but it was  _his_  name.  _His_  life. Could he be someone else? Could he really do that, abandon everything that was... him? "Well... I guess that sounds alright–"

"Wonderful. We can begin right away then."

"But– wait!" Luffy shouted, waving his hands. "Not– I'm not gonna go without my nakama!" His brows furrowed only the slightest. "I'm not going unless they can come with me."

"Go with– but that's..." The Old Man floundered, flabbergasted. A... multiple reincarnation? The amount of karma needed for one person alone was– The Old Man stopped and looked down at Luffy's karma number. That _was_  an awful lot of karma... Probably too much to spend even in  _two_  lifetimes... But... nine reincarnations? "I... Well, we might be able to make arrangements..." The Old Man spoke slowly as he thought. "Hmm... yes, that might work..." He jotted a few more things down with his pen.

"Very well." The Old man nodded and ruffled through his papers, pulling out eight others. He then threw them into the air, where they promptly disintegrated, only for seven glowing figures to appear. When the light faded, the rest of his crew was standing there.

"Luffy!" Usopp yelled, tackling his captain and friend. Chopper too ran up to him. The crew swiftly reunited, only to realize they were missing someone.

"Where's Brook?" Franky asked, looking around. There was nothing else but them in the black void.

"Him, yes. There appears to be a problem. Hold for a second." The rest of the Strawhats, who had just only noticed the old guy, gaped as he disappeared with a crack and a flash of light.

"Luffy, who was that?" Nami asked, still wary of her surroundings.

"I dunno. Some old guy who says I've got too much caramel." Luffy shrugged, then pounced on his cook. "SANJI. I'M HUNGRY."

"Shitty captain!" Sanji stopped him from getting any closer with a boot to the face. "Don't you ever think about anything besides food?!" He stomped the boy into the ground then looked around "Where are we anyways?"

Robin was the one to answer, with a decidedly creepy response at that too. "I'm almost certain that we are dead,Sanji-san." She said calmly. "I distinctly remember the pain of the spears piercing through my chest." She smiled serenely as everyone stared at her in horror.

"... You're one freaky chick Robin." Twenty years sailing together and her sense of humour still freaked him out sometimes. His reaction was better than some others though.

"DEAD?!" Usopp shrieked, paling as he grabbed onto Chopper. "What do you mean we're dead? If we're dead then why are we talking?!"

"Maybe we're not– maybe this is all happening inside our heads." Sanji took a drag of his cigarette, blowing out a skull shaped cloud of smoke, and smirked at his trembling crewmates. Chopper and Usopp, both on the verge of panicking, screamed as two more figures appeared with a flash and a bang. There stood the Old Man and Brook.

"Brook!" Luffy yells happily. "What took you so long?"

The Old Man scowled while Brook laughed jauntily. "As my companion here explained it, death had a hard time taking me– because I was already dead! Skull Joke! Yohohoho!"

Luffy clapped like a retarded seal and laughed along with him. "Skull Joke!" Usopp and Chopper guffawed loudly as well, laughing along with their captain.

"Ah-hem." The Old Man cleared his throat, casting them disapproving looks. "Now. As I had previously been explaining to Monkey D. Luffy: by himself, Monkey D. Luffy has collected too much karma–" with this, he directed a piercing stare at Usopp, who had been about to interrupt." –which is like a form of good luck, if you will. As you are now all dead, you cannot spend your luck and we must decide what to do with it." He flipped through his papers once more. "I suggested reincarnation. However, Monkey D. Luffy has refused to reincarnate without the rest of his...  _nakama_." The Old Man's disapproval on this choice is plain as day and the crew glared mutinously at the old codger.

"Alone, Monkey D. Luffy has enough karma to reincarnate three people, including himself. That is not enough for the entire nine of you." Eyes wide, the crew's breath stopped as one for a moment. "But, by combining the karma of everyone else in the crew– and subtracting the bad karma–" Here the Old Man glared sternly at a few sheepish members. "–there is enough karma to reincarnate only six of you." Shoulders slumped at these words and Luffy's mouth pursed into a thin line.

"This would be where the deal comes in." The Old Man continued, and hope alit once more. "We can make an accord to reincarnate rest of you, but only if you agree to do God's will."

"Do God's will?" Zoro spoke up for the first time. "You mean like become Priests or something?" His tone riddled with contempt.

"No." The Old Man soured at having been interrupted. "There are certain men that have found ways to escape death." He looked pointedly at Brook, who held up his hands in apology. "Normally, the Gods can let this slip by, but when these men become too corrupted and throw off the balance of the universe, something must be done." His statement had a certain feeling of profundity that gave the crew a feeling of being part of something much larger than the world they knew. "If you should agree, you shall  _all_  be reincarnated. You will be reborn as different people in a different reality and you will have a mission to complete, in order to fulfill your side of the bargain."

"Wait– different reality? You mean like... Not part of the Blues?" Nami interjected, stepping forward. "A whole different world?"

The Old Man snorted contemptuously. "Of course. You didn't really think you we're the only world that existed, did you?" When he saw indeed that she  _had_ , he  _tsk_ ed disapprovingly. "Yes, an entirely different world. Different powers, different places, different people."

"Will... Will we still all be together?" Chopper questioned timidly, poking his head out from behind Luffy's leg.

"... That can be arranged." The Old Man, it seemed, appreciated Chopper's more respectful manner, replying to without the snark he'd been giving the rest of the crew.

They all shared a glance, thousands of words exchanged in only a few seconds of eye contact. With a few decisive nods, it seemed everyone had come to an agreement. "Alright old man!" Luffy grinned. "It's a deal!"

"Very well." The Old Man nodded in turn and signed something with a flourish. "The arrangements shall be done." He closed his clipboard and looked at them all, each in turn.

"You will be reborn with all your memories, as to make the task easier. The man whom you must kill is named Tom Riddle. In his world, he goes by the moniker 'Lord Voldemort'."

The black void they'd been standing in began to fade to white and the Old Man's words got quieter and quieter.

"I wish you all..."

A bright flash of white light, blinding them all as the world began to fade around them.

"... good luck. "  
  


* * *

**"The King must die so that the country can live."**

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes, yet another HP x OP crossover. I just can't seem to get enough of them. Now, obviously things are going to change. I'll be flopping some ages around and other things, but I've tried to have everything fit as well as I possibly can.
> 
> Luffy- Harry Potter ;Slytherin '80  
> Zoro- /Zoro Roronoa ;Hufflepuff '79  
> Usopp- Dean Thomas ;Gryffindor '80  
> Nami- Ginny Weasley ;Slytherin '81  
> Sanji- Draco Malfoy ;Gryffindor '80  
> Chopper- /Tony Chopper ;Ravenclaw '82/81 (Werewolf)  
> Robin- Cho Chang ;Ravenclaw '79  
> Franky- Marcus Belby ;Ravenclaw '79  
> Brook- /Brook Bones Hufflepuff '78 (Son of Edgar Bones, Nephew of Amelia Bones)
> 
> Also, I don't actually know anything about karma or the afterlife or what-have-you-not. Basically, I made it all up! :D


	2. Rightwise Kingborn of England

Edgar Bones was a very serious man. He had six children and a lovely wife. Mrs. Bones was a kind and happy lady, brimming with laughter and joy.

Five little heads peered over the edge of the cradle to stare at their new baby brother, Brook, who stared straight back at them and laughed.

The Bones family was a large happy one, prospering even in the darkest times of war. They welcomed the arrival of yet another soon after Brook's second birthday.

Then, the death eaters attacked. Brook, the only survivor of the massacre that killed his parents and siblings. Found hours later, surrounded by the dead bodies of his family, his aunt Amelia took him into her home.

* * *

Mrs. Belby had a full, round face, just like her newborn son. Little Marcus shrieked with loud exuberance, then quickly dissolved into just as noisy tears, still wiggling and waving his chubby arms. It quickly becomes clear that he is a very emotional child.

Mr. Belby looked on stiffly from his position at his wife's shoulder and grimaced with every noise. Marcus, oblivious to the both his parents' presence, attempted to roll out of his mother's embrace, already set on exploring this vast new world.

* * *

Cho Chang vapidly soaked in all the wondrous and inexplicable happening around her. Laughing, her mother commented on how she was already treading the path to genius, despite still being in the cradle. Her father nodded in agreement, and they both knew that Cho would follow in her parents' steps and go to Ravenclaw.

Cho giggled quietly, making sounds only rarely as she hung from every word her parents spoke.

* * *

The night-shift nurse scowled disapprovingly as she scooped the baby up from the hospital step, cradling him close to her chest. Pulling back the blankets a bit, her scowl only deepened further. Not only do they abandon the child, but they had the audacity to die his hair first?! A crinkle; the nurse pulled out a piece of paper from the blanket folds, and on it was written only his name.

Months later, when the green colour failed to fade and roots continued to grow like grass, the nurse sighed and gave him a sad look. Most abandoned babies were adopted straight away, into the loving arms of adoptive parents. This one though... No one wanted defective children. No, this one would have to suffer the pain of cramped foster homes, too many children in too little space and not enough love to go around.

Oblivious to the nurse's grim musings, baby Zoro slept on.

* * *

Holding her son close to her breast, Narcissa Malfoy paced the drawing-room slowly. Only a few weeks old and already creating havoc in his path. As the Dark Lord's war grew ever worse, so did her husband's demeanor, and Draco's inexplicable hatred of his father served only to make it worse.

Trapped as he was in the form of a child, Sanji could do nothing but the pettiest of actions against his cold, cruel father, he that would neglect his kind and loving wife so badly.

* * *

As all other babies do, Harry Potter came into this world, screaming and crying, doing his very best to destroy the eardrums of anyone within a few metres distance. This, however, was the first and only time he ever did so, to most everyone's relief.

Though Lily Potter was thankful above all to be blessed with such a happy child, she must wonder  _why_  he never cried, never screamed or threw tearful tantrums. No, baby Harry did not cry, but instead laughed and burbled and shouted with glee, as if overjoyed by every single thing he could touch and taste and see.

It is only when both his parents are murdered in front of him and his head sliced open to scar that baby Harry cried once more.

* * *

Gently, gently, bundled in layers of fabric, her son is held close to her heart, where he might hear her love for him and let it calm him in turn. His cries, which had been non-stop for weeks on end, eventually ebbed and eased into small hiccupped sniffles. The young mother didn't know why her little Dean panicked so whenever his mother left his sight, but it is no small achievement that he had finally calmed, sleeping peacefully in her arms.

' _I bet he gets it from you.'_  She thought, staring out the window as she remembered the man who had abandoned both his wife and their newborn son.

* * *

Gaze locked down on her newest and youngest yet (a girl, finally a girl!), Molly pondered her little Ginny, not even a full month old and already so vastly different from the rest of her siblings, calm and bright where they had all been rowdy balls of energy and noise even at that age.

Ginny cried, soft and quiet and so tame compared to her six older brothers, curled up in the safety of her mother's arms, a tiny, chubby fist wrapped tightly around a bright red lock of her mother's hair.

* * *

As a baby, Tony Chopper was a happy little boy with cocoa brown skin and sky blue eyes. Born to a middle classwizarding family, both parents muggleborn, the Chopper family wanted for very little and were happy with what they had.

Unfortunately, other people were  _not_  happy with the Chopper's mild fortune, and took upon themselves to ruin any possible happiness a mudblood family might have. Cradled in the arms of his mother as she flees into the night, Tony's tears mixed with the blood from his fresh new werewolf bite.

* * *

**"The King is dead, Long live the King!"**

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so this chapter was very short, but I swear it'll be longer next time, promise! This was just a brief summary of early lives, and in the next chapter I'll be going into more detail about afterwards (Pre-Hogwarts still though).
> 
> So. WOW. I did not expect so much reaction to this fic. Now, because I didn't expect much from this story, I also didn't bother developing many ideas before posting, so... yeah. a slow work in progress right here. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.
> 
> And to the one reviewer who mentioned it, yes, Gryffindor Malfoy and Slytherin Weasley is going to be a lot of fun. -evil grin- I hadn't thought about the smokes before, but that'll be cool too. Does he sneak out into the muggle world and smuggle them in? Do wizards even smoke?
> 
> Also, has anyone else noticed JK's love for the number seven? Edgar Bones is said to have had seven children, Dean is said to have seven sisters and the Weasleys had seven children as well. Also, Arthur Weasley's father was named Septimus, indicating he was the seventh child. I know seven's a magical number and all, but wow...
> 
> EDIT: So, I had to fix this chapter up a bit, because this is set in the 80's and orphanages weren't really that common by then so I had to move Zoro elsewhere. And while fixing him, I thought 'why not fix the others?' So I did.


	3. That the King Can Only Guess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3! Are you excited? Actually, before you read the story, I have an IMPORTANT NOTE FOR YOU! I'd like to mention that this story was greatly inspired by Reborn at Hogwarts by phoenixyfriend! I've been meaning to put that in for a while now, but I kept forgetting, just like I kept forgetting to mention that no, Susan is not dead. Brook is Susan's elder cousin. There are three Bones siblings— Edgar, Amelia and Susan's parent.
> 
> So, go check out RaH (HP x Naruto crossover) and enjoy the chapter! (I hope I didn't forget anything this time...)

When Brook wakes up in a new world, with the old man's words still ringing in his ears, he is terrified. Then, he is fascinated. After that he goes through a whole range of emotions as he grows with his new family.

And there is magic, magic! How amazing! How strange! The first time he saw it, his eyes almost popped out of his head— ah, but he has no eyes! Skull Jo... Oh, he actually has eyes now. Hm... He'll have to re-accustom himself to being truly alive once more.

It's a fascinating new world with a new culture and new abilities (and new music!). His father is a loving man and his mother is very sweet and he has adorable little siblings as well. Admittedly, times would probably even happier than they are now if the world weren't at war, but he's used to such things really, having lived the life of a pirate for over a century.

When his family is killed— massacred by green lights before his very eyes— it is his aunt Amelia who takes him away. Aunt Amelia is a severe woman with more stress lines than laugh lines, but she has kind eyes. She is also more intelligent than most.

At Saint Mungo's when the healers are checking him over after the incident, they tiptoe around him, trying to gently explain to him that his family has "gone away" and that they won't be coming back. They seem alarmed, maybe even scared of the calm way he tells them that he knows his family is dead. A child shouldn't know such things apparently. The nurses are scandalized, but aunt Amelia nods approvingly. The Bones family is a sensible one (they are a family of Hufflepuffs after all) and they face the facts. A true Bones will not shirk from the cold, hard truth. Amelia and Brook both know that he has no need for counseling, but she checks him in anyway to appease the hospital, after the war is over.

Brook has never had a counselor before (pirates don't have time for such things) and frankly, he thinks it's a waste of time after his first appointment.

The mind healer asks him how he's feeling and if he has nightmares and if he knows what happened to his family (good, no, yes). If he likes his aunt Amelia, and does he think about dying or trying to see his parents again (yes and kind of yes, but he tells her no because that would give her the wrong idea).

She, like the rest of the healers, is shocked when he says that he knows they are dead. That he knows they are gone for good. That he really is okay. And Brook definitely knows she is scared when he tells her that he's happy they died quickly and painlessly. Children should not think of such things.

_(But better to die in an instantaneous flash of light, than to waste away of hunger and disease, watching your comrades die and their bodies rot all around you.)_

* * *

He doesn't always stay with his aunt, though he might like to. Amelia Bones is a busy woman, an important woman, and she has little time for child care, easy as it might be to take care of Brook. He spends a lot of time with his other aunt and uncle, and his little cousin Susan, who is only a year old. Though Susan is a joy to be around, her parents are tiring, with the way they treat him like glass and handle him with kid gloves. It's hard to act like a child all the time, especially when you're over a hundred years old (half of which was spent half-dead) and he doesn't always succeed. He knows because they give him odd looks and avoid touching him when they can.

Spending time with Amelia is a lot easier, simply because she doesn't actually spend time with him. Brook hates being alone, hates it with all his heart and always will because of the Florian Triangle, but he hates posturing almost as much. With Amelia, he has to do neither. She lets him sit nearby as she works, gives him vague answers to his chatterbox questions and basically let's him do what he wants. Which is how it should be because he is an adult (an elder!), even when stuck in a child's body.

By the time he is ten, Brook is still being shuffled between his remaining family. Amelia is now the head of the DMLE and Susan is now a bright-eyed, chubby cheeked little ball of sunshine. His birthday is fast approaching, and all people can say to him now is how he's almost eleven, almost time for Hogwarts, almost time to get a wand. He would say that they are even more excited than him, but that would be a lie.

Because he has searched his admittedly small new world for almost eleven years now, without finding his  _other_  family (his  _real_  family) without any clues. But maybe at Hogwarts, where all children are supposed to go (and they must be his age as well— they have to. He dares not think about possibly having to wait another eighty years to see his nakama).

* * *

_**Dear Mr. Bones,** _

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...** _

* * *

Diagon Alley is a familiar sight, as the main wizard shopping district, but it seems almost different this time, alight with a new feel. There is a tangible excitement in the air.

He goes through the standard motions— books, robes, apothecary. He doesn't bother with an owl (or any other pet) because the only person to write to is Susan, and he can use the school owlery for that.

As expected, the most exciting part is the wand. Walking into Ollivander's is like walking into a separate world. The air is different and sunlight filters only weakly through the dusty windows. Ollivander himself is peculiar and delightful, though Brook's uncle seems to find him creepy. Finding his wand doesn't take very long, and Ollivander seems a bit disappointed by this.

He walks back into the bustling alley holding his new wand, 12 inches, alder and unicorn hair  _("Quite an unyielding wood, best suited for non-verbal spells...")._ It feels alive in his hands, warm not in temperature but in emotion. It is a steady stream of joy, and it almost brings tears to his eyes.

* * *

Hogwarts is magnificent. The boat ride across the lake was nostalgic and beautiful, the ghosts in the castle fascinating. He joins the house of black and yellow  _("Such loyalty, oh my yes...")_ like a proper Bones should, and his aunt sends him a book on law enforcement in congratulations. It's almost bizarre how much of a bookworm Brook has become in these eleven years.

Still, it's not quite enough to smother the crushing despair when he doesn't find his nakama in the school. And he  _knows_  they aren't there, because he knows the feel of his crewmates well.

But he IS older than the rest, so maybe next year.

_(Please, please be here next year.)_

* * *

**"If the King loves music, there is little wrong with the land."**

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Evil endings are my specialty c: So- tell me your thoughts! Yes, I know it's short, but most of the chapters will be until Luffy/Harry's first year.


	4. Though They Possess The Crown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness, so many encouraging reviews! Stop it, you're making me blush... Okay, continue. And yes, it's a short chapter, but I didn't want to overload on the Brook angst.

It still tripped him up sometimes, Brook thought quietly. To realize that he was human again that is. He'd been human for eleven years now and while that may seem long to some, it is appallingly short in comparison to almost a century of semi-death.

He flexed his fleshy human hands in wonder, then picked up his bow and violin as he began to play. The violin was a gift from two Christmases ago when aunt Amelia had caught on to his passion for music. Along with the instrument had come lessons as well which was both good and bad. Good, because he now had an alibi for where he had learned all his songs. Bad, because that meant he had to downplay his ability to the level of a beginner and not the master that he was.

The first few notes of music sang sweetly in the morning air and he closed his eyes (eyelids! He had eyelids!) as he hummed along. It wasn't the usual way he played Black Handkerchief, loud and obnoxious and chipper, but the first (and only) time he'd tried to play as such, he'd brought the whole house down on him for waking them all at the ungodly hour of 4 am.

The Hufflepuff common room was warm and bright, for all that it was set in the dungeons. The proximity to the kitchens ensured that it always smelt wonderful too. His stomach rumbled loudly, almost drowning out his quiet sonnet.

Almost a month now had passed since he'd come to Hogwarts. A month of lessons and wonder and excitement. The joyful warmth he felt as he grasped his wand is most soothing in times of loneliness.

The last note trailed off beautifully, perfectly. His skills had diminished ever so slightly, unused to as he was with new muscles (muscles at all really) and stiff fingers that must be retrained. It was with satisfaction as he finishes the song with almost no mistakes.

Charms might be his favourite class of all, Brook thought as he began to play his signature song. The jaunty tune of Binks' Sake traveled through the Hufflepuff dorms, bringing the students pleasant dreams and pleasant awakenings. Yes, charms was probably the class he enjoyed most, full of colour and delight. Not that he disliked his other classes– potions was interesting and transfiguration was wonderous and even defense had a certain dangerous thrill. Charms however, was like he had always imagined magic to be. Flashy and loud and bright. Just the sort of thing his crewmates would enjoy. Luffy would laugh and Chopper would squeal and Usopp would spin a tale as Nami appraised and Sanji smiled and Franky struck a pose while Zoro feigned sleep and Robin would giggle quietly.

His hand slipped and he fudges a note before carrying on. And carry on he would.

Soon enough, his morning routine finished and his fellow badgers began to rise. Returning to his room, Brook tucked his violin away carefully before beginning to dress. As always, he was one of the earliest ones to enter the Great Hall, beaten only by the most studious Ravenclaws and a few professors. It is a habit he has acquired over the days of coming to the hall early in hopes to maybe spot a crewmate, just in case he'd been wrong (he hadn't).

The Hall filled quickly with students of all ages and houses, and food appears on the table. Brook piled as much food as possible on his plate, and ate till his stomach could have burst (Yet he had no stomach! Skull J- ah, wait...) but bemoaned the fact that Sanji could have made it better.

An owl swooped down as he was finishing his meal to deliver a note from Susan. The two wrote each other often, as Susan missed him terribly, fraught though she was with envy that he was learning magic. In exchange he would write her tales in his letters to keep her amused. Brook had never been much of one for stories, more suited to lyrics and composing, but it was an easy feat to repeat the adventures of the Strawhat crew, and her eagerness to hear more was always gratifying.

Giving the owl a bit of bacon, Brook packed away the letter to reply to later, picking up his bag as the students filled out of the Hall, classes soon to begin.

Though the halls were packed, there was a sudden distinct emptiness around him, and his hand clutched tightly around his wand, drinking in the soothing emotion.

He'd spent eleven years without his nakama now and while that may seem short to some, it is appallingly long when it comes to a yearning heart.

* * *

**"Time is The King of all men."**

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, this part of the AN is IMPORTANT, SO PLEASE READ IT! Did you notice the change in tense? I had someone tell me that my present tense style was awkward to read, so I tried to change it to past tense for this chapter. Suffice to say, not as easy as it sounded. My brain just seems to automatically write in present tense– past tense just doesn't really compute. I think I succeeded regardless. My IMPORTANT QUESTION is though, do you guys find reading present tense to be awkward? Which one do you like better?


	5. Kings are Made in the Image of God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so this chapter took a while, didn't it? I'm really sorry you guys. Unfortunately, I can't promise that the rest of the chapters will come any quicker. I haven't really been in much of a HP/OP mood lately.
> 
> As for present vs past tense, I've decided to stick with my original plan which was a present tense with summary-like chapter like this, and past tense with in depth chapter like the previous and the first.

He opens his eyes to magic. Like, literal magic, not the metaphorical kind. And how super was that? SUPER super, that's how. Magic can do amazing things, impossible things, and it makes his fingers twitch and his mental gears whirl madly.

He's still a babe right now, still tiny and chubby and weak, but as soon as he can, he's going to borrow a wand and see what he can do. See how it works and what it does and all the super new things he can discover. Not just the wand either, but this whole world, which is so amazingly different from the blues, is his to explore.

 _SUPER_.

* * *

His new mum is large and happy and almost reminds him of Kokoro in a few ways. Unfortunately, his new dad reminds him of Kokoro in a few other, more unfortunate ways. Mrs. Belby likes to fill the house with flowers and uses strong spices in her cooking, but it's never quite enough to mask the powerful smell of alcohol that is always present around Mr. Belby.

Uncle Damocles is pretty cool though. He's quirky and loopy and extremely erratic, and reminds Franky a bit of himself. "Dad" however doesn't like uncle Damocles, so he doesn't come over much. By the time Franky- er, _Marcus_ \- is five years old, uncle Damocles doesn't come over at all anymore and his new da is almost constantly wasted. He's not really angry at him for it of course, but it's a bit unpleasant and it makes his ma sad. He's just lucky that his da is a lazy drunk and not a violent one, really.

"He has his reasons Marcus, leave it alone."

Marcus. Marcus Belby, what a chumpy name. Very un-super. Cutty Flam and then Marcus Belby; he is forever cursed to have horrible names. Franky though, that is a cool name. That's what he'll introduce himself as, just like before. His ma doesn't like it (da is too drunk to ever understand what it is he's even saying) but the name Franky is a special one, from Tom, and he wouldn't change it for the world.

* * *

It's odd getting used to being fully human again. Franky hasn't been totally, completely and 100% human since he was twenty-two. He hasn't been even 50% human since thirty-five. And now he's young and human all over again and wow is it WEIRD. At least he's not as tiny as he was last time though. Marcus Belby was born with a thick, strong frame and ma makes sure he has some meat on his bones (Cutty Flam was a skinny little thing, too thin and too weak without the steel enforcing).

He doesn't have blue hair anymore either (it's brown) and he has a normal chin instead of a three-pronged one. His body is normal length, normal size and normally coloured and there is no fridge in his stomach.

(The discovery that the wizarding world didn't have cola was a truly devastating one. Luckily though, butterbeer is an adequate substitute.)

He likes wizard robes a lot, because it means that he still doesn't have to wear pants if he doesn't want to. England is constantly cold and wet and dreary though so he always has to wear shoes. He also has to button up his shirt, can't wear short sleeve all the time and his ma won't let him wear his sunglasses everywhere. Also very un-super.

* * *

_**Dear Mr. Belby,** _

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...** _

* * *

His ma has to drag him away from the new racing broom display (he's still trying to figure out how they work) to get him to buy the rest of his things. He gets his books and his supplies, is denied the totally super gold cauldron, and buys the largest and most vicious looking owl he can find. The new screech-owl has wicked sharp talons and a menacing disposition, so Franky very fittingly names him "Sunny", flabbergasting everyone around him.

Walking into Ollivander's is like walking into a mausoleum, dark and quiet and still as death till some ghost jumps out at you from nowhere. Except it's Ollivander, not a ghost (but really just as scary). Finding his wand seems to take a while, and seems to make Ollivander increasingly excited which in turn only makes him increasingly creepy. He finally leaves the store with his new wand a while later; Spruce and dragon heartstring, 14 and a half inches.  _("Has a flair for dramatics, that wand...")_

The wand practically vibrates in his palm, seemingly sharing his own jubilation at finally being able to experiment. It chose him with a colourful shower of sparks and a loud bang, and Franky knows this wand is definitely suited to him.

* * *

King's Cross is breathtakingly beautiful for perhaps all the wrong reasons. Trains, gleaming and glorious streamlined trains, dozens of them all around him. It's  _amazing_. The Hogwarts Express though is by far the best. Glossy red, well-kept, well  _made_ — if he starts crying, well that's just because he'll miss his ma, okay?

He's not very impressed with the rickety little rowboats that take them to the castle, but it's nice to get out on the water again, even if only for a few minutes.

The group of children to be sorted is a small to be sure, no more than sixteen kids in all. The lady with a pinched face, McGonagall or something, lines them up alphabetically so Franky gets placed second in line, right at the front.

He's sorted into Ravenclaw  _("What an inquisitive mind you have...")_ and is one of the first to sit down, and so gets to watch the rest of the first years be sorted. A few others join his house, including the Chang girl right after him, but it's not really all that exciting. He's staring at the ceiling, mind drifting, when Professor McGonagall's voice cuts through his haze like a knife.

**"Roronoa, Zoro!"**

* * *

**"He that can work is born to be king of something."**

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So guys, do my chapters seem like they keep getting shorter and shorter? Yeah, that's probably because they are. I'm really sorry about that. I'll try and makes Robin's chapter extra long, okay? I'll probably fail though.
> 
> Special thanks to firebirdofthenight, who's comment finally got me back on the ball (for now anyway).


	6. All Kings are Mostly Rapscallions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh... I'm sorry it took so long? Haha... yeah I'm horrible. I have an excuse though! I actually spilled coffee all over my laptop. Luckily it still works, but holy sticky keys. Typing this up was a real nightmare.
> 
> Oh, and I hope you weren't expecting to see Zoro in this chapter.

In her previous (and only other) life, Nico Robin had spent quite a lot of her life keeping secrets and laying low, so it's no great hardship doing so once more. It is different this time though, because of many reasons she would never have anticipated.

For one, she is no longer Nico Robin exactly. She is now Cho Chang, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Chang, not even a decade old and a witch in training.

A witch. Magic, wizards, creatures, whole worlds and cultures hidden away...

How intriguing.

* * *

It's a bit strange to get used to in the beginning, but not because of the broomsticks or the cauldrons or the wands. No, but rather because after spending so many years of her life wishing for it, Robin now has two devoted parents who deeply love and care about her... And she has no idea what to do with them.

The Strawhats had become her true family in every single way but blood, and they always would be, but having parents is a different matter all together. She's never had parents before. What does one even do with parents? How should she treat them, talk to them, touch them?

Robin knows virtually nothing about parents, having them and holding them and loving them even, but... She finds that she would truly like to learn all about it and she knows her crew would support her endeavor every step of the way.

* * *

There are no words to describes how proud the Changs are of their young daughter. A genius, a prodigy, intelligent beyond her years and outstripping all her peers. A Ravenclaw for certain.

Smart, quiet, polite, and lovely to boot, Cho was surely the perfect child, barely childlike at all and more like a mature woman masked by a child's face.

However the Changs are Ravenclaws, born and bred and they worry because they know something is not quite right with their daughter. Too calm, too mature, too understanding... Terrors in the middle of the night, never coming to her parents for help... A paralyzing fear of the water, yet a fierce desire to learn to swim...

The Changs, ever so deeply proud of their lovely daughter, ever so deeply worried for their eccentric daughter. But Cho is not the only who knows how to hide uncertainties behind a calm mask.

* * *

Hogwarts would be the most likely place to find her crew, that she knew. She'd known it for many a year even, though that had never really stopped her from hoping to meet anyone earlier, nor had it stopped her from worrying about the tremendous age gaps from their previous life. The... Old man, whoever he'd been, had promised to keep them all together, but "together" can mean many different things to many different people. And he'd never specified when either.

So she worries and she thinks and she plots, placing her hopes on the future in Hogwarts. That doesn't mean she does nothing in the meantime however, oh no. Once a spy, always a spy really. Because the fact remained that they had been given a task they must complete. So Robin waits, and Robin listens, and Robin collects information just as she was always so want to do.

Because when the time comes to fight this "Lord Voldemort", her crew will be ready.

* * *

_**Dear Ms. Chang,** _

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...** _

* * *

Diagon Alley is full of wonder and magic for sure, but more importantly full of people and gossip and information. Robin gleans a fair amount of news from the conversations around her as she accompanies her parents in supply shopping, but nothing truly relevant (so far). She'd probably get more pertinent news from Knockturn and its inhabitants, but she won't be able to slip her parents' watch today.

Olivander is... well. Interesting for sure. Intriguing, yes, ingenious probably. Funny in the head? Most definitely. No truly sane man would beam joyfully at some random girl decimating half his shop by accident. They find her wand eventually, elm and phoenix feather of 11 inches ( _"Elegance and sophistication..."_ ) and as she cradles it in her hands, Robin is struck by an overwhelming sense of belonging, the likes she hasn't felt since she last saw her crewmates eleven years ago.

The wand chooses the wizard indeed...

* * *

Trains have never been her favored method of transportation, but the journey is pleasant enough. The tiny rowboats on the other hand are highly disappointing, but then, even the queen's own barge would look shabby in comparison to the splendor that Sunny (and Merry) had been.

The line of first years stand before the hat (a singing hat,  _really?_ ) and the sorting commences. Ackerman, Belby, then Chang. She is made a Ravenclaw of course, ( _"Such a passion for knowledge..."_ ) as everyone knew would happen, and she joins the table of the ravens, sitting a meter or so from the Belby boy. The rest of the sorting is mundane at best, though thankfully progressing quickly, as most of the children were sorted into the houses she had guessed they would be. Which is perhaps why it's so shocking when the next name is called out; to think she hadn't noticed at all...

**"Roronoa, Zoro!"**

* * *


	7. Lepers, Kings and Mindless Fools

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so if you're one of the older readers of this fic, i.e. before the previous chapter, you should go re-read the fic. I updated some things and changed some things because guess what? No orphanges in the 80's! So, Zoro had to go to a Foster home instead and then I just started editing everything. So go re-read it if you haven't read the whole thing recently.

_**"Roronoa, Zoro!"** _

_It is a sullen scowling little child with spiky black hair who stomps up to the stool and stares disdainfully at the hat as if he expected it to have fleas. At the Ravenclaw table, two new first years wait with bated breath and in Hufflepuff, a second year holds the bench with white knuckles._

* * *

Zoro is permanently placed into foster care, along with seven other children all older than him by years, at the ripe old age of two months. The house mother is always busy with these seven other children, from bad homes and with bad pasts, so baby Zoro never gets the proper amount of attention or care that he rightfully should as a two month old child. That's alright with him though really.

* * *

It's after the third complaint from the school when Zoro is five years old that the house mother decides that it's time to do something about his hair. It makes him stand out, and not in an entirely good way. The adults disapprove, the teachers are scandalized and the other children's reactions are mixed. Those who aren't driven away by the bright green colour are attracted to it and intrigued, but are then swiftly chased away by his sour disposition and tendency to complete ignore the world around him. Needless to say, he doesn't have many friends. His fists have made sure that he doesn't have any bullies either though.

Teachers however, are a problem he can't fix with his fists or even a sword if he had one. Which is why next Monday, he arrives to class with pitch-black hair and an even blacker mood.

* * *

Zoro really doesn't like this new world. At all. Not because he was an orphan again, not because he had no friends, not because he had to go to school everyday and be forced to learn things, and not even because he wasn't allowed to fight people to sort out all his problems.

No, Zoro disliked this world so intensely because it was damn nigh impossible to get your hands on a sword— a  _real_  sword too, not those flimsy plastic and wooden ones.

Of course, being separated from his nakama didn't make it any better.

* * *

Sometimes ( _only sometimes dammit)_  Zoro really missed his crew. When the 'family' is eating no name vegetable soup, thin and metal tasting, for the fifth time that week, Zoro feels a sudden intense longing for cigarette smoke and good food.

When he's down in bed with a horrible flu, Zoro wishes he could see brown and pink and a tiny bit of blue because he wouldn't have been sick in the first place if  _he_  had been here.

And sometimes when he's bored and not lonely,  _definitely not lonely_ , he wishes he could hear a bit of music or a fantastical tale or see a cool invention or get harassed to play tag or have his debt raised or... Or maybe just...

But he's not lonely. He's fine.

* * *

He's on push-up one hundred and seven (and working suddenly seems so much harder, so much slower in this world) missing the smell of steel and the rock of the boat and the sound of laughter (okay so he misses them  _a bit_ ) when someone calls his name.

Downstairs, an old lady with a stern expression and a tartan dress waits for him. The house mother says he's won a scholarship, which makes absolutely no sense, but whatever. Later, the strange woman takes him aside and hands him a letter.

* * *

_**Dear Mr. Roronoa,** _

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...** _

* * *

The lady then explains magic and wizardry and... well. She tells him the date that she'll pick him up to go shopping with the other 'muggle-borns' and then leaves.

He's not excited, that night when he can't sleep, can't sit still, can't stop smiling. Just restless.

* * *

Diagon Alley is, well,  _magic_. He's never seen anything like it, not even with Devil Fruits and Haki and everything else. It's... not bad. Still no swords though.

But really, riding broomsticks?

Stern-witch-lady gives him his wizarding allowance along with the rest of the muggle-borns (he still doesn't know what amuggle is) and tells them to spend it wisely. She takes them through a tour of them shops so they can get their supplies and other requirements. He doesn't buy an animal, (owls, really?) first years aren't allowed broomsticks (not that he would want one) and he doesn't like reading or cooking, so no extra books or potion supplies.

By the time the group heads to the wand shop, Zoro has only bought the barest minimum and McGonall has given him a couple concerned looks. But hey, being constantly indebted to your crewmate makes penny-pinching an ingrained habit.

Receiving his wand takes ages longer than the rest of the group and Ollivander's mood rises with the amount of damage done to his store. Thirty-seven wands later, a whisper runs through his body as he grasps the handle and for a moment Zoro feels the breath of all things once more.

Blackthorn and dragon heartstring, 9 1/2 inches and apparently very unusual ( _"Strong and loyal, a warrior's wand...")_  and the shopping is finally done.

And hey, some coins left over for when Nami inevitably starts charging him.

* * *

Finding the platform is an actual nightmare ( _through a wall?!)_  and he makes it to the train with minutes to spare after circling the whole station three times and garnering quite a bit of suspicion. The whole ride is spent snoozing in an empty compartment and glaring menacingly at anyone who tried to enter. He dozes through quite a bit of the boat ride too, and the sorting ceremony after that, tired from his restless night before, too excited to sleep.

He almost doesn't notice it when the tartan lady calls his name, jolting suddenly from his nap.

_**"Roronoa, Zoro!"** _

* * *

At the Hufflepuff table ( _"Hardworking indeed!")_  Zoro raises a brow as a boy further down waves at him enthusiastically, with a wide and toothy, almost familiar grin. Forehead creasing, he tries to focusing on sensing the world. He had always been more adept at using Busoshoku haki to make armour than Kenbunshoku haki to sense the world, and he was unused to doing it in this new body, but...

A breeze rolls through him and Zoro's eyes fly wide as a feeling of  _familyfriendshipnakamaloveloyalty_ blows through him. Then he turns his head to stare across the hall as he feels two more presences. From the Ravenclaw table, two dark heads of hair stare at him intently.

* * *

**To know nor faith, nor love, nor law, to be** **Omnipotent but friendless, is to reign.**

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been saying for the past while that I would make chapters (or at least a chapter) longer. And I think I succeeded with this one. Maybe. Hopefully. Probably.
> 
> On the topic of the half a year delay... Uh... I'm sorry? I actually got a job for a little while and then stuff happened and yeah. Whoops.
> 
> I probably made Zoro way too tsundere and totally out of character. Another whoops.


End file.
